A juvenile Mantis to which I decided to investigate to see the evolution of the growth of their wings.

When finding it had the first vestiges of their growth (as they can see in the image), for what I decided to transfer it to a plant where it could continue seeing it during some days.

In a future presentation they will be able to see these completely developed wings, what they allowed him to leave later.

I hope you like it J

Mantis is also the name of several insects in the Mantidae family, commonly known as praying mantis.

The mantis is one of the most common species of the order Mantodea.

Mantids are notable for their large size and nimble reflexes. Their diet usually consists of living insects, including flies and aphids; larger species have been known to prey on small lizards, frogs, birds, snakes, and even rodents.

Most mantids are ambush predators, waiting for prey to stray too near to them. The mantis then lashes out at remarkable speed. Some ground and bark species, however, pursue their prey rather quickly.
A mantid's prey is caught and held securely with its grasping, spiked forelegs.

Mantids are masters of camouflage and make use of protective coloration to blend in with the foliage, both to avoid predators themselves, and to better snare their victims.

Some species in Africa and Australia are able to turn black after a molt following a fire in the region to blend in with the fire ravaged landscape (fire melanism).
In addition to this adaptation, they have adapted to not only blend with the foliage, but to mimic it, appearing as leaves, sticks, blades of grass, flowers or even stones.

Their diet and coloration frequently change as the mantid grows; mantids are among the hemimetabolic insects - those whose immature stages are similar to the adults, primarily differing in the lack of wings and functional reproductive organs.

Dear Rap.
My heart congratulations on 150th post. Every of them have brought a great pleasure to us. Thank you for your fruitful role which you play at our TN community. Best wishes and more-more new wonderful pictures.

Hi Ricardo,
Excellent shot on this young mantis. Sharply focused picture. Details on texture and body colors are well shown. I also love the composition of this picture. Congratulations to your 150th post.
JC

Hello Ricardo,
Congratulations on your 150th post. This young mantis shot is a fine way to celebrate it, with goos sharpness, comp. and contrasting bg. Excellent lighting too.
TFS and best wishes, Ivan

Hello Ricardo,
Excellent composition showing this Mantis in a nice pose. Great sharpness and very nice lighting. Have you used the Super-Macro setting here?
TFS and congratulations on your 150th post!
Ulla

What an interesting perspective on this juvenile Mantis, Ricardo! The insect fills the entire diagonal space within the frame.
Superb sharpness, focus, colours and minute details. The judicious use of flash has created a nice dark BG here, making the subject stand out sharply and clearly.
Warm regards,
Ram

Congratulations on the 150th post and very informative. I had no idea that it takes time for the wings to develop. Wonderful sharp details, nice DOF, excellent POV and lovely colours. I hope to see the next 150

Hello Ricardo,
this juvenile Mantis taking shelter under a large leaf is very well presented in front of a deep dark background, shown in full length, with all her weapons well visible. I like the softly contrasting hues of green and red, and the well placed distant shadows that make this flashed photography look as if taken under natural light conditions. The fragility of that ferocious little raptor is well shown here, despite its fragility one of the most successful predators on earth - with a rate of more than 90% attacks being successfull, while lions are well below 40% ...
With thanks, and best regards,
Peter

Hi Ricardo.
Beautiful capture those cub rear horse with very nice and sharp details.Well composed and very good exposure.Very nice POV gives interesting view of all the details.Splendid colours are very well saturated.Dark blurry background well stress attention on main subject.Together with very instructive note is that a amazing presentation hereof very interesting insect.
Superb done close-up.Thank you for sharing and congratulate to your anniversary.
Best greetings...Milos

Hello Ricardo!
I have some delay with writing comment to your pictures but I believe that is only for a moment :)
I like this presentation because of some things:
1. it is a good quality photo (DOF, POV and contrast)
2.very interesting and detailed note.
3.the picture shows a larval stage of Mantodea! Usually here on TN only the adults are shown, so bravo for this photo! :)
Best greeting from Lodz,
Radomir

Well this is definitely a very interesting post! You can be sure that you’ve got my 100% attention as for your following post…I’m very curious to see the evolution of a mantis :)
But before that, I want to congratulate you for such a lovely number of posts! Bravo, my friend and to many more!
Coming back to the photo…as you’ve seen from my gallery…I really like mantids very much :) These creatures seem very fascinating and I can’t wait to find some more and take shots of them…but I guess I’ll have to wait for that :(
The composition here is terrific and you really managed very well to keep all the body of this beautiful creature in full focus. The lighting is also very nice and the colors are charming. Good, sharp details very good DOF and a very pleasing framing.

Hello Ricardo,
Congratulations for your 150th post, this is a beautiful number that goes with a beautiful and so interesting post. I learned something new today again. Mantis and wings... I can't wait to see the continuity of this process :) As usual, details, exposure, POV, composition and DOF are superb. I really enjoyed reading those interesting notes. This is a much appropriated post for TN. Congratulations and keep on posting! :)))
Claudine

Yes, after a very long period I'm back on these site, but I'm no great specialist in macro work, I try on a very soft tone!
You show us a very lovely macro shot, congratulation with this 150th picture on TN, splendid work here! Thanks for sharing.

Hello Ricardo,
what a wonderful choice for your 150th. I like those mantises and really enjoy seeing the different species from around the world. Excellent capture, I love the lighting, the use of flash is excellent , the colors have a warm tone to them. The dark BG shows off the mantis very well.
TFS..Sky

Hi Ricardo,
I almost missed this great picture.
The mantis looking funny when he climbing on the edge.
The light and colours are very nice. Good details and DOF.
Congrats on your 150 post.
Well done, old friend.

Firstly, allow me to congratulate you with #150, although somewhat belated. You have enhanced this site with each and every one of those postings and I thank you for that.

Thanks to your notes I realised that this was not a poor little hapless male mantis that has fallen prey to a female that clipped its wings by having it for supper (chuckle), but that it was still a youngster that still had to develop its wings. Well spotted and captured MF, what must have been a pretty small insect at that stage. The vertical composition worked well. Splendid rich colours, excellent details, complimentary dark BG, and spot-on exposure gives this shot the visual edge that so many of your photos exhibit.

Ricardo,
You are such a patient man.
You have shared so much of your knowledge with us; at times I get the "feeling" that you are actually TEACHING
just as a "teacher" does. Love your notes. Have learnt so much.
How do you find so many creatures to register?
Best regards,
Mario.

Hi Ricardo,
wow - I'm so fascinated of these big insects.
I never saw one in my life - but it's my dream to see such a big one ...
Your shot is perfect, that pose, the sharpness and the warm colours, can't be done better, thanks and greetings
Sabine - wishnugaruda

Hello Ricardo !
Congratulations on your 150th picture ! Each of them is very beautiful. Compo and POV are excellent here, as well as the details. You also made great use of your flash, the picture has vivid colors and a beautiful dark BG which makes the insect stand out very nicely. very well done !
Valerie.